Labelling the vast majority of pharmacies ‘satisfactory' in premises ratings sends the wrong message to the public and commissioners, pharmacy leaders have warned.

Independent and multiple representatives voiced concerns that more than 90 per cent of pharmacies had fallen into the satisfactory band in an analysis of inspections among Pharmacy Voice members. Less than 10 per cent had achieved a 'good' rating from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

This could lead patients to view pharmacy as "unsafe" and deter commissioners from engaging with the sector, warned Rowlands superintendent Margaret MacRury and NPA chief executive Mike Holden at an event held by the GPhC to discuss the model on Thursday (October 23).

The GPhC would not confirm whether the figures were representative of all inspections it had conducted since it began testing the model in November, but stressed it was keen to receive and act upon feedback. It also pledged to give all satisfactory pharmacies advice on how to achieve a good rating in future.

But Ms MacRury branded the satisfactory rating "too broad a church". The lack of good ratings could damage the sector's image, she argued.

"Our major concern is... the perception will be that pharmacies are unsafe – particularly when the NHS is trying to push pharmacy as the first port of call for self care," she stressed.

Pharmacies that were labelled satisfactory but given no areas where they could improve should be pushed over to a good rating, she suggested.  "If they can't tell us anything that needs to be improved, why can't you be graded as good?" Ms MacRury asked.

Mr Holden expressed concerns over the potential impact on commissioners. "Will they start to look at pharmacies and say we will only commission from ‘good' pharmacies?" he said. "Under the current regime, that would exclude an awful lot of people."

Nick Kaye, owner of Nick Kaye's Pharmacy in Newquay, also suggested the grading system could be revised. His pharmacy had won multiple awards, partnered with other healthcare professionals and ran several specialist services but was only rated as satisfactory, he revealed. "I have a fantastic relationship with my inspector but I would have an issue with that rating being published," he said.

Ratings will only be made available to the public once the government has passed legislation on the premises standards, which is expected to come into force next year.

In the meantime, the regulator said it would continue to welcome pharmacists' feedback on inspections. But GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin hinted that it would be reluctant to relax the definition of a good rating. "Providing a service that is, in a narrow sense, safe can't be any more than satisfactory if you're not going the extra mile and doing the optimisation stuff, can it?" he asked delegates at the event.

At the same event, the GPhC pledged to make its premises inspections shorter and give pharmacies more time to respond to their reports based on feedback it had received on the regime. 

	Could the prevalence of the satisfactory rating have a negative impact on the sector?